US20170362800A1 - Water conservation using floating optically-reflective devices - Google Patents
Water conservation using floating optically-reflective devices Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- US20170362800A1 US20170362800A1 US15/527,134 US201515527134A US2017362800A1 US 20170362800 A1 US20170362800 A1 US 20170362800A1 US 201515527134 A US201515527134 A US 201515527134A US 2017362800 A1 US2017362800 A1 US 2017362800A1
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- Prior art keywords
- particles
- binder
- reservoir
- water
- floatable
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- A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
- A01—AGRICULTURE; FORESTRY; ANIMAL HUSBANDRY; HUNTING; TRAPPING; FISHING
- A01G—HORTICULTURE; CULTIVATION OF VEGETABLES, FLOWERS, RICE, FRUIT, VINES, HOPS OR SEAWEED; FORESTRY; WATERING
- A01G15/00—Devices or methods for influencing weather conditions
-
- E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
- E03—WATER SUPPLY; SEWERAGE
- E03B—INSTALLATIONS OR METHODS FOR OBTAINING, COLLECTING, OR DISTRIBUTING WATER
- E03B3/00—Methods or installations for obtaining or collecting drinking water or tap water
- E03B3/02—Methods or installations for obtaining or collecting drinking water or tap water from rain-water
- E03B3/03—Special vessels for collecting or storing rain-water for use in the household, e.g. water-butts
Definitions
- the present invention includes a method for conserving water in a reservoir.
- the method comprises deploying onto the upper surface of water in a reservoir a floatable device with a wettable lower surface, wherein the device comprises a first element and a second element, the first element providing the device with a high albedo upper surface.
- the first element comprises a plurality of highly reflective particles and the second element comprises a binder configured to hold the reflective particles together.
- the reflective particles comprise hollow glass spheres and the binder comprises a biodegradable bioplastic.
- FIG. 1 is a cross section view illustrating a floatable high albedo device with a wettable lower surface according to one embodiment.
- FIG. 2 is a top-down view illustrating a floatable high albedo wettable device according to another embodiment.
- FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating the steps of a method for using a floatable high albedo device with a wettable lower surface to conserve water according to one embodiment.
- FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating the steps of a method for forming a floatable high albedo device with a wettable lower surface according to one embodiment.
- FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating the steps of a method for using a floatable high albedo device with a wettable lower surface to cool a body containing water trapped in the form of ice, snow, or permafrost, according to one embodiment.
- FIG. 1 shows a device with a high albedo upper surface 106 .
- the device comprises a first element 102 , which in the shown embodiment takes the form of a plurality of highly reflective particles, which provide the high albedo upper surface.
- the particles may be hollow glass particles, which may be spherical. In other embodiments, the particles may be porous and/or non-spherical.
- the lower surface of the device is wettable, such that when the device is positioned on the upper surface of a body of water, the water makes good contact with the device's lower surface, wetting it.
- the device further comprises a second element 104 , which acts as a binder to hold the particles of the first element together.
- the second element may also be responsible for providing the device with a highly wettable lower surface 108 .
- the second element may be chosen in part for its ability to bind the particles together by making strong bonds to the particles' surfaces, and in part for characteristics enabling the resulting composite of particles and binder to exhibit high wettability.
- the first element may be responsible for providing the device with a highly wettable lower surface.
- the wettability may be provided by a third element, not shown in FIG. 1 , rather than by the second element.
- Wettability offers several advantages to the device. One is that it helps the device “cling” to the water surface, so that it will be less likely to be lifted off or blown away in windy or stormy conditions. Another is that the underlying water can be drawn into the thickness of the device, penetrating to the upper surface, where gas exchange may occur with the overlying atmosphere.
- the device may comprise an element having high porosity, facilitating the water penetration and gas exchange.
- the high porosity element may be the same element as the second element
- the entire lower surface of the device may be wettable. In some cases, adequate cling and gas exchange may be achieved with a fraction of the lower surface significantly less than 100% being wettable.
- the binding material may be dispensed with altogether, and the particles of the first element may be enclosed within a container such as a mesh bag.
- the shape and relative volume of the container with respect to the volume of the contained particles may be chosen such that when the device is allowed to float on a water surface, there are sufficient spaces between the particles to allow gas exchange to occur. Wettability may not be a relevant parameter in these embodiments.
- a container used to restrict the area over which the reflective particles spread may be a boom, such as those used to contain oil spills, rather than a more completely enclosing structure such as a mesh bag.
- FIG. 2 is a top-down view illustrating one embodiment 200 including floating reflective particles 202 whose spread over the surface of a body of water, indicated by dashed lines, is confined to a limited area by a floating boom 210 .
- FIG. 3 is a flowchart of the steps of a method 300 for using a device of the type shown in FIG. 1 to conserve water in a reservoir.
- a floatable device comprising a first element and a second element is obtained, the device having a wettable lower surface and a high albedo upper surface, the high albedo upper surface being provided by the first element.
- the device is deployed onto the top surface of water in the reservoir.
- FIG. 4 is a flowchart of the steps of a method 400 for making a device of the type shown in FIG. 1 .
- a first element with high reflectivity is obtained.
- a second binding element is obtained.
- the first and second elements are mixed together, and shaped as desired.
- the shaped mixture is exposed to an elevated temperature for a time sufficient to allow good binding to occur.
- the resulting heated mixture is allowed to cool to room temperature, forming the desired device.
- a temperature of 325 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 minutes has been found to be suitable for an experimental mixture involving hollow glass spheres and PLA—Polylactic acid or polylactide, a compostable thermoplastic aliphatic polyester derived from corn.
- PLA Polylactic acid or polylactide
- the glass spheres provide high reflectivity and wettability, while the PLA is attractive for its excellent binding properties, its non-toxicity, its biological derivation and compostability, and its brightness. Glass is also a very good choice for its innocuousness in the natural environment.
- glass-based commercially available products that may be considered for the particles of the first element include perlite, an amorphous volcanic glass, 3MTM Glass Bubbles K1, and Poraver® beads formed from post-consumer recycled glass.
- a plurality of devices such as the one shown in FIG. 1 may be deployed to float on the upper surface of the body of water of interest. It may be desirable to limit the fraction of the water surface area covered by these devices to well under 100%, in order to maintain adequate levels of gas exchange between the water and the overlying atmosphere. In one embodiment, the number of devices deployed may be chosen such that no more than 30% of the total water surface would be covered.
- each device may be formed to include one or more through holes that extend through the thickness to facilitate gas exchange between the underlying water and the overlying atmosphere.
- each deployed device may be allowed to float freely over the water surface.
- Prevailing wind and currents may act to drive all the devices towards one end of the reservoir, maybe even piling them up against the banks, so reducing coverage to below the desired levels.
- Another problem is the practical consideration of how difficult it may be to gather up a large number of freely floating devices when desired, for example, prior to removing and/or replacing them.
- the floatable device may include a central member that can be attached to a restraining or anchoring device that in turn is attached either to the bed of the reservoir, or the shore, or a dock.
- the attachment may be fully rigid, hinged or pivoting, or even flexible, for example with some sort of rubbery connecting member.
- Portions of the floatable device other than the central member may themselves be attached to the central member by rigid, hinged, pivoting, or flexible means.
- the resulting constrained area of movement will enable the devices to be relatively easily accessed for removal or replacement, and will avoid the potential weather-driven concentration of devices at one portion of the reservoir.
- non-rigid attachments as discussed above are used, there will be the additional advantage that small movements of the high albedo surface responsive to wind and currents can occur and will typically “average out” the shading of the underlying water.
- the methods and apparatus described herein may also be advantageous in applications other than the water conservation of immediate interest as described.
- One example is to help stabilize permafrost, with a possible side benefit of preventing release of methane (a powerful greenhouse gas).
- Other possibilities include snow stabilization, avalanche prevention, maintaining lower temperatures in glacial melt ponds, and in flood control.
- the materials used must be carefully selected for appropriate levels of safety, to humans and the environment as a whole, in any and all such deployment locations.
- FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the steps of a method 500 for using a device of the type shown in FIG. 1 to cool a body containing water trapped in the form of ice, snow, or permafrost.
- a floatable device comprising a first element and a second element is obtained, the device having a wettable lower surface and a high albedo upper surface, the high albedo upper surface being provided by the first element.
- the device is deployed onto the top surface of the body.
- reservoir is used in this application to refer to any body of water with an upper surface exposed to incident sunlight. As such, it includes man-made reservoirs and naturally occurring lakes and other similar bodies that could be considered to be water sources for human use.
- wettable as a characteristic of a material surface is used in this application to mean hydrophilic or able to be easily and thoroughly wetted by water.
- the contact angle between water and a wettable surface is less than 90 degrees, possibly even 0 degrees.
- highly reflective and “high albedo” are used in this application to mean having a reflectivity over the visible spectrum greater than 15% (which is higher than the average reflectivity of an exposed water surface to incident sunlight) and preferably greater than 90%. Values in these reflectivity ranges are significantly greater than the average reflectivity of water to incident sunlight.
- Embodiments of the present invention thus enable the environmentally benign generation and deployment of high albedo devices to areas in which the resulting cooling of the surface (e.g. water, permafrost, snow, ice etc) in the vicinity of the deployment may be highly beneficial.
- the surface e.g. water, permafrost, snow, ice etc
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- Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Atmospheric Sciences (AREA)
- Environmental Sciences (AREA)
- Environmental & Geological Engineering (AREA)
- Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
- Hydrology & Water Resources (AREA)
- Public Health (AREA)
- Water Supply & Treatment (AREA)
- Road Paving Structures (AREA)
- Optical Elements Other Than Lenses (AREA)
Abstract
Description
- This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/081,544, entitled “Water conservation using floating reflectors”, filed on Nov. 18, 2014, which is hereby incorporated by reference as if set forth in full in this application for all purposes.
- Conservation of water is a matter of great concern and interest, especially at times of ongoing or anticipated drought. Issues of potential environmental damage, human displacement, and overall costs are serious disincentives to infrastructural approaches such as constructing or expanding reservoirs or building dams. Evaporation due to absorption of incident sunlight by the water in existing reservoirs makes up a significant fraction of potentially avoidable water loss. Simple surface covers, as currently used to prevent water loss in small ponds or swimming pools by physically blocking evaporation, can reduce gas exchange, block incident light and increase underlying water temperature, so even if such covers could be scaled up to reservoir-size, they would have very negative consequences to the ecosystem of the reservoir.
- Covering the water surface using surface films of oils and hydrocarbon-based materials has also been proposed. This has the additional disadvantage of adding a non-aqueous liquid, and potential pollutant, to the reservoirs.
- It is therefore desirable to provide a scalable method of reducing absorption of incident sunlight that allows adequate atmospheric gas exchange. The ability to keep underlying water temperature within a predetermined range, and to avoid permanently shading any particular region without introducing potential pollutants would be additional desirable features.
- The present invention includes a method for conserving water in a reservoir. In one embodiment, the method comprises deploying onto the upper surface of water in a reservoir a floatable device with a wettable lower surface, wherein the device comprises a first element and a second element, the first element providing the device with a high albedo upper surface. In one embodiment, the first element comprises a plurality of highly reflective particles and the second element comprises a binder configured to hold the reflective particles together. In one embodiment the reflective particles comprise hollow glass spheres and the binder comprises a biodegradable bioplastic.
-
FIG. 1 is a cross section view illustrating a floatable high albedo device with a wettable lower surface according to one embodiment. -
FIG. 2 is a top-down view illustrating a floatable high albedo wettable device according to another embodiment. -
FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating the steps of a method for using a floatable high albedo device with a wettable lower surface to conserve water according to one embodiment. -
FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating the steps of a method for forming a floatable high albedo device with a wettable lower surface according to one embodiment. -
FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating the steps of a method for using a floatable high albedo device with a wettable lower surface to cool a body containing water trapped in the form of ice, snow, or permafrost, according to one embodiment. - The manner in which the present invention provides its advantages can be more easily understood with reference to
FIGS. 1 and 2 . -
FIG. 1 shows a device with a high albedoupper surface 106. The device comprises afirst element 102, which in the shown embodiment takes the form of a plurality of highly reflective particles, which provide the high albedo upper surface. In some embodiments the particles may be hollow glass particles, which may be spherical. In other embodiments, the particles may be porous and/or non-spherical. The lower surface of the device is wettable, such that when the device is positioned on the upper surface of a body of water, the water makes good contact with the device's lower surface, wetting it. The device further comprises asecond element 104, which acts as a binder to hold the particles of the first element together. In some embodiments the second element may also be responsible for providing the device with a highly wettablelower surface 108. In these cases, the second element may be chosen in part for its ability to bind the particles together by making strong bonds to the particles' surfaces, and in part for characteristics enabling the resulting composite of particles and binder to exhibit high wettability. In other embodiments, the first element may be responsible for providing the device with a highly wettable lower surface. - In some embodiments, the wettability may be provided by a third element, not shown in
FIG. 1 , rather than by the second element. - Wettability offers several advantages to the device. One is that it helps the device “cling” to the water surface, so that it will be less likely to be lifted off or blown away in windy or stormy conditions. Another is that the underlying water can be drawn into the thickness of the device, penetrating to the upper surface, where gas exchange may occur with the overlying atmosphere. In some embodiments the device may comprise an element having high porosity, facilitating the water penetration and gas exchange. In some embodiments the high porosity element may be the same element as the second element
- In some embodiments, the entire lower surface of the device may be wettable. In some cases, adequate cling and gas exchange may be achieved with a fraction of the lower surface significantly less than 100% being wettable.
- In some embodiments, the binding material may be dispensed with altogether, and the particles of the first element may be enclosed within a container such as a mesh bag. The shape and relative volume of the container with respect to the volume of the contained particles may be chosen such that when the device is allowed to float on a water surface, there are sufficient spaces between the particles to allow gas exchange to occur. Wettability may not be a relevant parameter in these embodiments.
- In some embodiments, whether or not a binder is used, a container used to restrict the area over which the reflective particles spread may be a boom, such as those used to contain oil spills, rather than a more completely enclosing structure such as a mesh bag.
-
FIG. 2 is a top-down view illustrating oneembodiment 200 including floatingreflective particles 202 whose spread over the surface of a body of water, indicated by dashed lines, is confined to a limited area by a floatingboom 210. - It should be noted that the density and dimensions of the particles relative to the surfaces and dimensions of device 100 are not shown to scale in
FIGS. 1 and 2 . -
FIG. 3 is a flowchart of the steps of amethod 300 for using a device of the type shown inFIG. 1 to conserve water in a reservoir. Instep 302, a floatable device comprising a first element and a second element is obtained, the device having a wettable lower surface and a high albedo upper surface, the high albedo upper surface being provided by the first element. Instep 304, the device is deployed onto the top surface of water in the reservoir. -
FIG. 4 is a flowchart of the steps of amethod 400 for making a device of the type shown inFIG. 1 . Atstep 402, a first element with high reflectivity is obtained. Atstep 404, a second binding element is obtained. Atstep 406, the first and second elements are mixed together, and shaped as desired. Atstep 408, the shaped mixture is exposed to an elevated temperature for a time sufficient to allow good binding to occur. Atstep 410, the resulting heated mixture is allowed to cool to room temperature, forming the desired device. In some embodiments, a temperature of 325 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 minutes has been found to be suitable for an experimental mixture involving hollow glass spheres and PLA—Polylactic acid or polylactide, a compostable thermoplastic aliphatic polyester derived from corn. In this particular mixture, the glass spheres provide high reflectivity and wettability, while the PLA is attractive for its excellent binding properties, its non-toxicity, its biological derivation and compostability, and its brightness. Glass is also a very good choice for its innocuousness in the natural environment. - Examples of glass-based commercially available products that may be considered for the particles of the first element include perlite, an amorphous volcanic glass, 3M™ Glass Bubbles K1, and Poraver® beads formed from post-consumer recycled glass.
- In the water conservation applications of most interest to the present invention, it is envisaged that a plurality of devices such as the one shown in
FIG. 1 may be deployed to float on the upper surface of the body of water of interest. It may be desirable to limit the fraction of the water surface area covered by these devices to well under 100%, in order to maintain adequate levels of gas exchange between the water and the overlying atmosphere. In one embodiment, the number of devices deployed may be chosen such that no more than 30% of the total water surface would be covered. - In some embodiments, each device may be formed to include one or more through holes that extend through the thickness to facilitate gas exchange between the underlying water and the overlying atmosphere.
- It some embodiments, each deployed device may be allowed to float freely over the water surface. However, there may be advantages to constraining the motion of the device to some extent. Prevailing wind and currents may act to drive all the devices towards one end of the reservoir, maybe even piling them up against the banks, so reducing coverage to below the desired levels. Even if the devices remain separate, so that the total covered volume remains constant, there may be negative consequences to aquatic life if one portion of the water surface is continuously kept shaded. Another problem is the practical consideration of how difficult it may be to gather up a large number of freely floating devices when desired, for example, prior to removing and/or replacing them.
- These problems may be addressed by designing the floatable device to include a central member that can be attached to a restraining or anchoring device that in turn is attached either to the bed of the reservoir, or the shore, or a dock. The attachment may be fully rigid, hinged or pivoting, or even flexible, for example with some sort of rubbery connecting member. Portions of the floatable device other than the central member may themselves be attached to the central member by rigid, hinged, pivoting, or flexible means. In all these cases, the resulting constrained area of movement will enable the devices to be relatively easily accessed for removal or replacement, and will avoid the potential weather-driven concentration of devices at one portion of the reservoir. In some embodiments where non-rigid attachments as discussed above are used, there will be the additional advantage that small movements of the high albedo surface responsive to wind and currents can occur and will typically “average out” the shading of the underlying water.
- The methods and apparatus described herein may also be advantageous in applications other than the water conservation of immediate interest as described. One example is to help stabilize permafrost, with a possible side benefit of preventing release of methane (a powerful greenhouse gas). Other possibilities include snow stabilization, avalanche prevention, maintaining lower temperatures in glacial melt ponds, and in flood control. The materials used must be carefully selected for appropriate levels of safety, to humans and the environment as a whole, in any and all such deployment locations.
-
FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the steps of amethod 500 for using a device of the type shown inFIG. 1 to cool a body containing water trapped in the form of ice, snow, or permafrost. Instep 502, a floatable device comprising a first element and a second element is obtained, the device having a wettable lower surface and a high albedo upper surface, the high albedo upper surface being provided by the first element. Instep 304, the device is deployed onto the top surface of the body. - The term “reservoir” is used in this application to refer to any body of water with an upper surface exposed to incident sunlight. As such, it includes man-made reservoirs and naturally occurring lakes and other similar bodies that could be considered to be water sources for human use.
- The term “wettable” as a characteristic of a material surface is used in this application to mean hydrophilic or able to be easily and thoroughly wetted by water. The contact angle between water and a wettable surface is less than 90 degrees, possibly even 0 degrees.
- The terms “highly reflective” and “high albedo” are used in this application to mean having a reflectivity over the visible spectrum greater than 15% (which is higher than the average reflectivity of an exposed water surface to incident sunlight) and preferably greater than 90%. Values in these reflectivity ranges are significantly greater than the average reflectivity of water to incident sunlight.
- Embodiments of the present invention thus enable the environmentally benign generation and deployment of high albedo devices to areas in which the resulting cooling of the surface (e.g. water, permafrost, snow, ice etc) in the vicinity of the deployment may be highly beneficial.
- The above-described embodiments should be considered as examples of the present invention, rather than as limiting the scope of the invention. Various modifications of the above-described embodiments of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the foregoing description and accompanying drawings. Accordingly, the present invention is to be limited solely by the scope of the following claims.
Claims (21)
Priority Applications (1)
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US15/527,134 US20170362800A1 (en) | 2014-11-18 | 2015-11-18 | Water conservation using floating optically-reflective devices |
Applications Claiming Priority (3)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
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US201462081544P | 2014-11-18 | 2014-11-18 | |
PCT/US2015/061235 WO2016081545A1 (en) | 2014-11-18 | 2015-11-18 | Water conservation using floating optically-reflective devices |
US15/527,134 US20170362800A1 (en) | 2014-11-18 | 2015-11-18 | Water conservation using floating optically-reflective devices |
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US20170362800A1 true US20170362800A1 (en) | 2017-12-21 |
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US15/527,134 Abandoned US20170362800A1 (en) | 2014-11-18 | 2015-11-18 | Water conservation using floating optically-reflective devices |
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US (1) | US20170362800A1 (en) |
AU (2) | AU2015350038B2 (en) |
CA (1) | CA2967822A1 (en) |
WO (1) | WO2016081545A1 (en) |
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US2440584A (en) * | 1944-06-19 | 1948-04-27 | Minnesota Mining & Mfg | Lenticular reflex reflector sheet and method of making the same |
US3222204A (en) * | 1960-04-20 | 1965-12-07 | Minnesota Mining & Mfg | Process of making beaded coatings and films from glass beads treated with oleophobic sizing agent |
US3439366A (en) * | 1967-11-20 | 1969-04-22 | Microlite Corp The | Boat construction |
US3617333A (en) * | 1968-10-30 | 1971-11-02 | Gen Steel Ind Inc | Process for flotation treatment of glass beads |
US3622962A (en) * | 1969-09-09 | 1971-11-23 | Us Navy | Free fall oceanographic beacon |
US3687329A (en) * | 1969-05-08 | 1972-08-29 | Allplas Ag | Liquid storage system |
US3998204A (en) * | 1975-05-13 | 1976-12-21 | Fuchs Francis J | Floatable ball |
US20030139549A1 (en) * | 1999-10-27 | 2003-07-24 | 3M Innovative Properties Company | Fluorochemical sulfonamide surfactants |
US7041221B2 (en) * | 2004-04-19 | 2006-05-09 | Brian Arnott | Method for removing oil spills |
US20090211981A1 (en) * | 2008-02-21 | 2009-08-27 | Rousseau Research, Inc. | Dry amorphous silica product with inert carrier to remove oil from surfaces |
US20090255674A1 (en) * | 2008-04-15 | 2009-10-15 | Boney Curtis L | Sealing By Ball Sealers |
US20100282860A1 (en) * | 2007-11-15 | 2010-11-11 | Field Leslie A | Systems for environmental modification with climate control materials and coverings |
US20120024971A1 (en) * | 2007-10-09 | 2012-02-02 | Field Leslie A | Methods for environmental modification with climate control materials and coverings |
US8702459B2 (en) * | 2010-02-02 | 2014-04-22 | Weener Plastik Gmbh | Floating technical hollow body and method of manufacture |
US20150237813A1 (en) * | 2007-10-09 | 2015-08-27 | Leslie A. Field | Systems for decreasing local temperature using high albedo materials |
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EP1771359B1 (en) * | 2004-07-28 | 2013-06-26 | Aqua Guardian Group Ltd | Module for a floating cover, floating cover therewith, method a manufacturing thereof and corresponding kit |
US8882552B2 (en) * | 2007-12-29 | 2014-11-11 | Kal Karel Lambert | Biophysical geoengineering compositions and methods |
US9060931B2 (en) * | 2008-10-31 | 2015-06-23 | The Invention Science Fund I, Llc | Compositions and methods for delivery of frozen particle adhesives |
-
2015
- 2015-11-18 US US15/527,134 patent/US20170362800A1/en not_active Abandoned
- 2015-11-18 AU AU2015350038A patent/AU2015350038B2/en active Active
- 2015-11-18 CA CA2967822A patent/CA2967822A1/en not_active Abandoned
- 2015-11-18 WO PCT/US2015/061235 patent/WO2016081545A1/en active Application Filing
-
2019
- 2019-10-31 AU AU2019257496A patent/AU2019257496B2/en active Active
Patent Citations (15)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US2440584A (en) * | 1944-06-19 | 1948-04-27 | Minnesota Mining & Mfg | Lenticular reflex reflector sheet and method of making the same |
US3222204A (en) * | 1960-04-20 | 1965-12-07 | Minnesota Mining & Mfg | Process of making beaded coatings and films from glass beads treated with oleophobic sizing agent |
US3439366A (en) * | 1967-11-20 | 1969-04-22 | Microlite Corp The | Boat construction |
US3617333A (en) * | 1968-10-30 | 1971-11-02 | Gen Steel Ind Inc | Process for flotation treatment of glass beads |
US3687329A (en) * | 1969-05-08 | 1972-08-29 | Allplas Ag | Liquid storage system |
US3622962A (en) * | 1969-09-09 | 1971-11-23 | Us Navy | Free fall oceanographic beacon |
US3998204A (en) * | 1975-05-13 | 1976-12-21 | Fuchs Francis J | Floatable ball |
US20030139549A1 (en) * | 1999-10-27 | 2003-07-24 | 3M Innovative Properties Company | Fluorochemical sulfonamide surfactants |
US7041221B2 (en) * | 2004-04-19 | 2006-05-09 | Brian Arnott | Method for removing oil spills |
US20120024971A1 (en) * | 2007-10-09 | 2012-02-02 | Field Leslie A | Methods for environmental modification with climate control materials and coverings |
US20150237813A1 (en) * | 2007-10-09 | 2015-08-27 | Leslie A. Field | Systems for decreasing local temperature using high albedo materials |
US20100282860A1 (en) * | 2007-11-15 | 2010-11-11 | Field Leslie A | Systems for environmental modification with climate control materials and coverings |
US20090211981A1 (en) * | 2008-02-21 | 2009-08-27 | Rousseau Research, Inc. | Dry amorphous silica product with inert carrier to remove oil from surfaces |
US20090255674A1 (en) * | 2008-04-15 | 2009-10-15 | Boney Curtis L | Sealing By Ball Sealers |
US8702459B2 (en) * | 2010-02-02 | 2014-04-22 | Weener Plastik Gmbh | Floating technical hollow body and method of manufacture |
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AU2015350038A1 (en) | 2017-07-06 |
CA2967822A1 (en) | 2016-05-26 |
AU2019257496B2 (en) | 2021-09-09 |
WO2016081545A1 (en) | 2016-05-26 |
AU2015350038B2 (en) | 2019-10-10 |
AU2019257496A1 (en) | 2019-11-21 |
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